Can-opening device.



A. MENDENHALL.

CAN OPENING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1, 1911.

Patented July 9, 1918.

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Patented July 9, 1918.

A, MENDENHALL. CAN OPENING DEVICE.

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APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1917.

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ALBERT IVIENDENHALL, OF OSKALOOSA, IOWA.

CAN-OPENING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 9, 1918.

Application filed November 7, 1917. Serial No. 200,886.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT MENDENHALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oskaloosa, in the county of Mahaska and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Opening Devices, of which the following is a speci fication.

In hotels and other establishments wherev it is necessary daily to open large quantities of canned goods, considerable inconvenience is experienced and'time lost where the ordi nary hand implement for this purpose is employed. To open a can of goods with the ordinary hand can opener requires some little time and labor due to the fact that the can must be firmly grasped and held upon a support in one hand and rotated during the operation of the opener. The present invention, therefore, aims to provide a can opening device which may be quickly operated tomake the proper incision in the top of a can and which in its use will obviate the necessity of manually grasping the can While being opened, the can being firmly held in place by means of a clamping device which is foot actuated and the actual opening of the can or, in other words, the cutting of the top thereof being accomplished through the simple motion of a hand operated lever.

It is one aim of the invention to provide, in a device of this class, a clamping means which will automatically adapt itself to cans of various diameters and will, in its operation, automatically position the can directly below the top cutting device so that the operator is not required to exactly place the can in proper position but may dispose the same at practically any point between the jaws of the clamping means and then accomplish the centering, of the can.- or its proper positioning, and the firm gr pping of the can, merely by the downward pres sure upon a foot lever.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the can top cutting means that theknife thereof will be automatically held I in adjusted position in its passage around the can top so that the incision made by the knife will be concentric to the sand top and located close to the margin of the. top.

The invention further aims to so 0011- struct the cutting means that the same .wiil

automatically adapt itself to can tops of various diameters. v

The invention also aims to so construct the cutting means that when the foot lever for the clamping means is relieved of pressure to permit the clamping jaws to recede from the can and the cutting means to be automatically moved upwardly away from the can, the'severed top will be lifted or sprung upwardly so that the necessity of prying the lid to open position when it is desired to discharge the contents of the can, is obviated. V

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a vertical sectional view through the device embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan View thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation looking at one corner of the device;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan View of the cutter head;

Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

The device embodying the present invention may be mounted upon any ordinary table or bench'by the purchaser of the same or it may be placed upon the market in complete condition as shown in the drawings. As illustrated in the drawings, the mechanism is mounted upon and within a cabinet-like support comprising sides 1, a base 2, and a top 3. Secured in any suitable manner upon the top 3 is a plate 4 which constitutes the base platefor the mechanisin and this plate extends over an opening 5 formed in the top 3. The'plate 4 is formedwith a slot 6 which extends longitudinally thereof and above the opening 5 and this slot provides for guidance of the clamping jaws for gripping and holding the can. Each of the clamping jaws is inclicated in general by the numeral 7 and includes wings 8 which are relatively angularly disposed and which diverge from the forward end of a shank 9, the jaws being so disposed upon the plate 4 that their concave sides will be presented toward each other. The shank of each jaw comprises an upper portion which is integral with the rear or outer side of the head of the jaw comprising the wings 8 and which rests at itsunderside atits edges upon the upper face of the said plate 4. Secured to the under side of the upper portion of each shank 9 is a plate 10 which fits bodily within the slot 6 and which has side flanges 11 which project beneath the under side of the plate 4 at the opposite sides of the said slot. In this manner the jaw shanks are slidably connected with the plate 4 and are prevented from becoming upwardly or downwardly displaced. N ormally the jaws are held in retracted position or, in other words, widely separated, by means of springs 12, each spring being connected at one end to a depending stud 13 upon the underside of the shank of the respective jaw and at its other end to a pm 1 1 which, in the present instance, vertically transects a bore 15 formed within the springs being housed within these bores as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings It will now be understood that movement of the jaws toward each other is against .the tension of the spring 12 and in order-that such movement may be imparted to the jaws, means is provided which will now be described. The numeral 16 indicates a rod which is preferably rectangular in cross section and which is slidably mounted through an opening 17 in the plate 4 at one side of the slot 6 and this rod extends downwardly between the sides 1 of the supporting structure and at its lower end is pivoted, as at 18, to a foot lever 19. This lever is pivotally mounted at one end, as at 20, in a bracket 21 upon the base 2 of the said structure and at its opposite or free end is provided with a foot piece .22 whereby it may be swung downwardly. A collar 23 is adjustably secured upon the rod 16, beneath the top 3 of the supporting frame structure, by means of a set screw 24 and extending from this collar is an arm 25 to which is connected, as at 26, the lower end of a coil spring 27. The upper end of this spring is provided with a coupling member 28 of any suitable construction to which are connected the ends of wire cables or other suitable flexible elements 29. These cables are led upwardly from the said upper end of the spring .27 and over a pair of pulleys 30 mounted between brackets31 upon the under side of the plate 4- at the opposite sides of the slot 6 and at their other ends are connected to studs 32 upon the under sides of the aw sh-anks9. As the cables 29 are of equal length and are drawn equally taut, it will be understood that when downward pressure is exerted uponthe foot piece 22 to swing the lever 19 in a'downward direction, the pull eXer-ted upon the cables 29 will result in the jaws 7 being slid toward each other to'grip the can which 'is disposed between 7 them and upon the plate 4. It will also be apparent that'ifthe can-is even approximat ely centrally placed between the jaws while they are in normal or separated position, the first jaw to engage the can will slide the same along the plate 4 until both jaws bear equally against the bottom portion of the can. Furthermore, due to the provision of the spring 27, the jaws will not crush the sides of the can even though the foot lever be swung downwardly to the fullest extent inasmuch as after the jaws have been moved into engagement against the opposite sides of the can, continued downward movement of the foot lever will serve only to expand the spring 27 without materially increasing the degree of pressure exerted by the jaws. Of course, when the foot lever is relieved of pressure the spring 27 will return the same to elevated position and the springs 12 will act to retract the jaws, thus releasing the can.

In the initial downward movement of the lever 19, as above described, the clamping jaws will be brought into engagement with the lower portion of the can to be opened and inasmuch as further downward movement of the lever will result in continued downward movement of the rod'16'andthis rod carries the cutting mechanism of the device, the said mechanism will be brought into active position with relation to'the top of the can upon such further downward movement of the said lever. Thus, in the operation of the device,- the can is first position. The cutting mechanism is mounted upon an arm 33 which extends from a collar 34: adjustably secured upon the rod 16 above the top 3 of the supporting structure by means of a set screw 35 preferably having a hand wheel for its head whereby the collar 34 may be conveniently secured at different elevations upon the rod 16 although such adjustment is rarely necessary. At its outer end the arm 33 is formed or provided with a substantially circular head 36 and adjacent this head the arm is provided with a downwardly projecting substantially c'oni cal spur 37 which is designed to pierce the can top, as the cutting mechanism is lowered into active position. Also formed or pro vided upon the head 36 at diametrically opposite points are flat sided downwardly projecting spurs 38 whichalso pierce the can top, and which, being flat sided, serve to twisted through the operation of the rotary cutter which will now be described. 'The cutter comprises a hand lever 39having at its inner end a head 10 which is preferably circular and which is disposed against the upper side of the head '36, a pivot bolt 41 being fitted axially: through the heads 36 and 40 whereby to connect the lever 39 and H5 head 10 for turning movement with relaiso steady the top against displacement or being tion to the head 36. A nut 42 is threaded on to the bolt 41 and serves to secure the parts in assembled relation and connected, as at 43, to the upper endof the bolt is one end of a coil spring 44, the other end of this spring being connected to a finger piece 45 which projects upwardly from one end of a block 46 which is slidably fitted in a slot 47 formed longitudinally in the lever 39. The block 46 is provided at its upper side with lateral flanges 48 which rest slidably upon the lever 39 and a plate 49 is secured to the under side of the block 46 and has its marginal portions projecting beneath the said lever at the opposite sides of the slot 47 whereby to prevent upward displacement of the block 46. A double-edged blade 50 projects from the under side of the plate 49 and constitutes the cutting blade of the device and also projecting from the under side of the said plate and slightly spaced in an outward direction with relation to the said blade 50 is a stop pin 51, the lower end of which projects below the lower or entering end of the blade 50 and is designed to engage against the side of the can, the top of which is to be cut by the blade 50. A handle 52 is mounted upon the outer end of the lever 39 and projects above the same and may be grasped for the purpose of swinging the said lever upon its pivot 41.

In the operation of the device, the can to be opened is first disposed with its bottom resting upon the plate 4 and in position approximately mid-way between the clamping jaws 7. The finger piece 45 is then grasped and by means of it the block 47 is moved outwardly in the slot 39 against the tension of the spring 44 until the said finger piece is in position against the handle 42 at which time the handle also is grasped. The foot is then placed upon the foot piece 22 and the lever 19 is swung downwardly thus causing the jaws 7 to firmly grip the can and properly center the same beneath the cutting device. Continued downward movement of the lever 19 will cause the spurs 37 and 38 to pierce the can top. Prior to piercing of the top, however, and as soon as the points of thespurs have been brought substantially into contact with the said top, the finger piece 45 is released whereupon the spring 44 will slide the block 46 inwardly along the hand lever 39 until the lower end of the stop pin 51 engages the side of the can body whereupon the downward pressure upon the lever 19 will cause not only the spurs 37 and 38 to pierce the said top but also the blade 50. Prior to releasing the finger piece 45 the lever 52 has been swung upon its pivot to the extreme left as the operator faces the 7 machine and in order to complete the operation of the device it is only necessary to swing the lever asfar as possible toward the right. This Wlll result in an incision being cut in the top of the can close to the margin thereof, this distance being determined by the distance between the blades 50 and the adjacent side of the stop pin 51. After the hand lever has been thus manipulated the foot lever is relieved of pressure and as the head 36 and arm 33 are moved upwardly through the movement of the rod 16, the friction between the spurs 37 and 38 and the walls of the openings which they pierce in the can top will result in the partly severed top being sprung upwardly substantially to open position so that the contents of the can may be quickly discharged by inverting it, the can being, of course, released as the clamping jaws 7 recede therefrom.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a device of the class described, a support, a manually operable member, clamping members, cutter mechanism, autoinatically variable connection between the manually operable member and each of the clamping members and between said member and the cutter mechanism whereby upon actuation of the manually operable member, the clamping members will be simultaneously moved toward each other in equidistant spaced relation to the cutter mechanism and the cutter mechanism will be moved in the direction of the support, and manually operable means for actuating the said cutter mechanism.

2. In a device of the class described, a support, a member movable with relation to 100 the support, cutter mechanism carried there by and located above the support, a manually operable actuating means connected with the said member, clamping members movable upon the support toward and away 105 from each other, and yieldable connection between the clamping members and the firstmentioned member for moving the clamping members toward each other when the said firstmentioned member is actuated to move 110 the cutter mechanism toward the support.

3. In a device of the class described, a sup port, clamping members mounted thereon and movable toward and away from each other, means connected with the members 115 yieldably holding the same in retracted position, a manually operable lever, a spring connected with the said lever, and flexible elements connected with the spring an d with the said clamping members.

4.111 a device of the class described, a support, a member vertically movable with relation to the support, manually operable means for moving the said member, a base plate mounted upon the support, pulleys 125 mounted beneath the base plate,'clamping members slidably mounted upon the base plate, flexible elements connected to the clamping members and trained in opposite directions over the pulleys and connected to 130 the first-mentioned member, and cutter mechanisms supported by the first-mentioned member and located in vertical alinement above the point of location of the said pulleys.

5. In a device of the class described, a support, clamping members movable toward and from each other, cutter mechanism, a manually operable member, positive connection between the cutter mechanism and the said member for moving the said cutter mechanism positively in the direction of the said support, and yieldable connection between the said manually operable member and the clamping members for simultaneously moving the said clamping members toward each other and maintaining their equidistant spaced relation to the cutter mechanism, the last-mentioned connection being designed to yield after the clamping members have been brought into engage- Gopie's of this patent may be obtained for ment with the object to be clamped and permitting of continued movement of the said manually operable member to move the cutter mechanism into cooperative relation to the said object.

6. In a device of the class described, a support, a member movable with relation to the support, cutter mechanism carried thereby, a manually operable actuating means connected with the said 'member, clamping members movable toward and away from each other, and automatically variable connection between the clamping members and the first-mentioned member operable to move the clamping members toward each other when the first-mentioned member is actuated to move the cutter mechamsm toward the support. r

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ALBERT MENDEN AL'L; [1 5.

Washington, D. G. 

